


Silver Lining

by mcgarrygirl78



Series: Thicker than Water [56]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Alternate Universe, Drama, Family, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-22
Updated: 2011-10-22
Packaged: 2017-10-24 20:37:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/267641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“They poke you and don’t care if you cry. I'm not going there ever!”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Silver Lining

**Author's Note:**

> This story is written in the Thicker than Water universe, where the BAU are kids and teens.

Spencer knocked on Emily’s open bedroom door and walked in.

“Emily?” his already small voice was even more tentative.

“What's up?” she looked up from _Needful Things_.

“Ashley’s crying.”

“What? What’s the matter?”

“I don't know.” He shrugged. “She won't talk to me but won't stop crying either. Can you come and help?”

Emily slipped a bookmark in her page and jumped off the bed. She left her room and Spencer followed. Down the hall in their room, sure enough Ashley was on her bed crying. She was curled up in a ball, sobbing, as Kitty looked on helplessly. When Emily looked at Spencer he had the same look on his face as the kitten.

“Close the door, Spencer.” She spoke quietly.

“Should I leave?” he asked.

“No, just close the door.”

He did, going over to sit on his bed. Emily sat down on Ashley’s bed and put her hand on the seven year old’s shoulder.

“Hey kiddo, what's the matter?”

Ashley didn’t answer but she kept crying.

“It’s OK if you don’t wanna talk right now but Spencer and I are a little worried about you. Crying is always easier when you don’t have to do it alone. I’ll be your shoulder…if you want.”

Within seconds, Ashley had crawled into Emily’s lap. She wrapped her arms around her and gently rocked her as Ashley released her emotions. Spencer came over to the bed, sitting down and rubbing her back. It took some time, Emily was patient, but she finally calmed down. Spencer took a tissue from the nightstand and gave it to her.

“Thanks.” Ashley hardly whispered.

“You're going to be OK.”

“No I'm not.” She shook her head as fresh tears sprang to her eyes. “It’s so horrible, Spencer.”

“What's horrible?” Emily asked. She took another tissue and wiped Ashley’s face again. “You know you can always talk to me…me and Spencer both. No matter what's bothering you, big or tiny, it’s gonna feel better when you get it off your chest.”

“I'm scared.” Ashley replied.

“Take all the time you need, I won't push you. But when you're upset so am I. I can't take care of things if I don’t know what's wrong.”

Ashley nodded but remained silent. She sat in Emily’s lap, leaning her head on her breast. Emily remained a source of comfort but she was anxious to find out what caused the tears. Ashley hadn't been much of a crier the two months she’d been living with them. Wow, it had only been two months…it felt like much longer. She was already a member of the family.

“I have to go to the doctor before I start school.” Ashley said. “He has a funny name, like a little kid doctor.”

“She’s called a pediatrician.” Emily replied. “It won't be so bad; it’s just a checkup. We need to make sure you're healthy before exposing you to a whole bunch of other kids. Dr. Charlie is awesome, isn’t she Spencer?”

“Oh yeah.” the nine year old nodded eagerly. “We get great glow in the dark Band-aids and lollipops. Plus she graduated from the University Of Pennsylvania School Of Medicine, which is consistently one of the top five schools in the U.S. We couldn’t ask for better care, I promise.”

“But Uncle Dave said I'm gonna get needles; he just told me today. I hate needles! I won't go!”

“Ashley,” Emily sighed.

“Needles hurt.” She pouted. “They poke you and don’t care if you cry. I'm not going there ever!”

“You have to go or you can't go to school.”

“I don’t care.” She was defiant. “I don’t even like school.”

“Spencer, could you give us a few minutes to talk?” Emily asked.

“Sure.” he hopped off the bed. “Hey Ashley, do you want some chocolate pudding?”

“Yeah!” her face cleared up for just a few moments.

“Is it OK, Emily?”

“It’s fine.”

Smiling, Spencer left the two girls behind the closed door. Emily sat Ashley down on the bed.

“I gotta tell you the truth, kiddo, needles suck.”

“I hope that’s not supposed to make me feel better.” Ashley crossed her arms. “I already knew that.”

“Hold on, I'm getting there. You need these shots, Ashley. They're important to your health. Sometimes we have to be brave and do things that we think suck. You have to be brave about this. But there is a silver lining.”

“What's that mean?”

“A silver lining means good news.” Emily said. “And the good news is that I'm going to be there with you the whole time. I'm going to hold your hand and you'll get through this OK.”

“You promise?” the little girl was skeptical.

“Cross my heart and hope to die. Its gonna hurt but I promise you I’ll be there.”

“OK.”

Ashley didn’t like it but it seemed as if she didn’t have much choice in the matter. Uncle Dave was as gentle as he could be breaking the news to her. It really just sucked all the way around. There was a knock on the door.

Spencer was back with a pudding cup for Ashley and one for himself. She seemed to perk up as she dug her plastic spoon in. Spencer sat across from her on his bed. He looked happy that she was happy.

“No more tears, Ashley.” Emily said. “Everything is going to be fine.”

“Well…”

“What?”

“Uncle Dave called me today. He was supposed to take me to the pedia-doctor but now he can't. He said Gargamel would do it. I don’t like her, Emily.”

“I know.” She put her arm around Ashley’s little shoulder. That was one thing that hadn't mellowed in two months. Ashley still loathed Erin. Emily tried to soften things, at least around the edges, but her pleas went nowhere.

“She hates me.” Ashley said.

“No she doesn’t.”

“Uh huh! I know she does. She always looks at me like I have cooties.”

“Erin looks at most children that way.” Spencer replied. “She's not bad once you get to know her.”

“Whatever.” Ashley grumbled.

“Erin isn’t easy to get to know, that’s true.” Emily said. “But you can't hate her and she doesn't hate you. You love Uncle Dave right?”

“Of course.” Her blue eyes were wide and her tone was as incredulous as a seven year old’s could be.

“Well Uncle Dave loves her very much. Do you think he could if she was so awful?”

“I don't know.”

“You should try to get to know her, Ashley. I'm not going to force you to like her but give her a chance. That’s what I had to do. What do you think is the best way to try?”

Ashley shrugged, eating her pudding.

“What do you think, Spencer?”

“Well the use of the name Gargamel conjures to mind a sneaky ogre.” He replied. “You'll never be able to see her as anything else as long as you call her that. Anyway, it might hurt her feelings.”

“I don’t say it to her face!” Ashley exclaimed. That would be horrible. She’d been called bad names to her face and knew how much it hurt. Behind the back was OK; to the face was mean.

“It could slip once because you say it all the time.” Emily said. “How do you think that would make her feel?”

“Mad. She might slap me like those ladies in those black and white movies on TV.”

“Or it might make her feel sad.” Spencer said.

“From now on you'll just call her Erin, OK? It’s better.”

“OK, I’ll try.” Ashley sighed, finishing her pudding. “I really will. But what's she going to do to be nicer to me?”

“It’s not always about doing something for something. Erin is not an evil ogre. And I think if you're nicer to her you'll see she’ll warm to you immediately. Wanna know why?”

“Why?”

“Because you're totally awesome, that’s why. Isn’t she Spencer?”

“Totally.” He nodded.

“Do you feel better?” Emily asked, kissing her forehead.

“Yeah.” Ashley threw her arms around her. “Thanks Emily.”

“You know it’s important to me to be here for you.”

Smiling, Ashley jumped off the bed and put her arms around Spencer.

“Thanks Spencer. The pudding was awesome.”

“You're welcome. Wanna go and watch TV?”

“OK.”

They opened the door and left the room. Emily smiled after they were gone. She hated to see Ashley upset but it was going to be fine. She would call Erin and coordinate everything. This doctor’s visit needed to go as smoothly as possible.

Maybe afterward the three of them could have lunch out. Mrs. Rossi wasn’t exactly Emily’s favorite person either. Yet the two women managed to live in relative peace. Erin really was bearable once you got to know her and her quirks. She was set in her ways but who wasn’t in their 40s?

Despite it all, she risked a lot to make sure Jason’s family stayed together. While Dave handled Ashley’s paperwork, it didn’t mean that Erin didn’t care. Emily got off her bed and left the room too. It was probably better to talk to Erin now and finish her book later. This peace accord wasn’t going to happen without some snags along the way. It could turn out to be a long conversation.

***


End file.
